Zachary Bookman is the co-founder and CEO of OpenGov, which was acquired for $1.8 billion. He reflects on how power-law venture investing works.
Insight
Bookman: Denying founder secondary liquidity forces entrepreneurs to play small ball
“I'm not less committed now. I'm honestly able to drop back and scan the field and throw passes in a way that I wasn't before. You, it's actually a decent way to encourage the entrepreneur to play small ball. For somebody who grew up without a lot, you know, mo…”
Insight
Bookman: Reversing OpenGov's Remote Policy Because In-Office Productivity Is Far Superior
“And the reality is I was dead wrong. We're getting back into the office. The collaboration, the productivity, like, it's not even close, and it's very painful getting back into the office, and you know what is worse than that? It's not getting back in the offi…”
Insight
Bookman: Remote Workers End Up Quitting Due to Isolation and Disconnection
“It's the disaffection. It's the, I don't want to be paternalistic, but my colleague, Tiago, who is our one of our key leaders here, he said, look, people think they're happier sitting at home, and they're not. And they end up quitting like a week later. They s…”
Assertion Partly supported
Bookman: Venture funds take 15 to 20 years to distribute cash
“People think these companies take like five, seven, nine, 10 years. Not true. They take like 15 to 20. That means your venture fund takes 15 to 20 years to distribute the money.”
Insight
Marc Andreessen: There is no upper limit on software pricing
“Marc Andreessen said to me, you want a big company? Charge high prices. You want a medium-sized company? Charge medium prices. You want a small company? Charge small prices. And there's a lot to that. He actually said there is no upper limit on the price of so…”
Opinion
Bookman: Bootstrapping is superior to venture capital to avoid alignment conflicts
“However, for those who can like bootstrap, that's the ultimate That's the ultimate, in my opinion, to avoid all of the conflicts that come from raising venture capital, and to own much more of the company yourself, that, that's when I'm like, tip of the cap, a…”